My thanksgiving contribution

So, every year I go to a good friend's fabulous thanksgiving meal and this year was no different. And I have to admit that every year I feel the ever so slightest bit of competitive feeling regarding who brings the best dish to share. It isn't really a competition, and thank goodness it isn't because I deeply dislike any outright, verbally verified competition, but this year, if there had been a competition for cutest contribution, my friend Cat and I would have won. We copied a recipe off of Pinterest for rice Krispy hedgehogs. These were outrageously easy and just crazily cute. I would totally make these again.

These little cuties are made  by shaping classic rice Krispy treats into tear drop shapes and then spooning melted chocolate over the top, leaving the small point of the tear drop clean for the face. Chocolate jimmies give the prickly look of a hedge hog and the face is just black and red gel frosting. 

The little flower was a last minute emergency situation. The original directions call for fondant flowers. I, personally, hate fondant and never use it for anything. Besides, this was supposed to be fun and easy, not annoying and frustrating, so I just went to the local candy store, bought some brightly colored, fruit flavored licorice and sliced them into pieces. It was perfect and made the project extra adorable without any extra work, like hand shaping fondant flowers would have done. Blech. No fondant for me! :)

 

The tiny happinesses of a busy life

It seems as though the busier times in my life, such as this fall has been for me, require lots of fun and happiness to keep me going. Thankfully, the busy-ness of November has simply involved a whole series of fun and happy events doing the things I love to do, spent with the people that I know and love. To be completely honest, it has felt happy the way Christmas is supposed to feel(but never does) and for that I am grateful, since we are in fact, now going into the holiday season, which I so dread. I now feel much more fortified and able to deal with the stresses and mental tiredness that Christmas brings.

November started off with the happiest of things, a visit from Parents!



This visit included a lovely tea with friends and my dear, sweet mother. It couldn't have been more perfect.






We then had a series of crazy things happen in life which required cake as a solace, so I made a happy visit to Pangea bakery and cafe, which I adore!!

I enjoyed the green tea mousse with oolong tea - this was a real treat.

And I took a few little egg custards home to share with Matthew.

The end of the month has really been lovely with celebrating Thanksgiving and simply enjoying time with friends. I've also indulged in a few little purchases: tiny pans, persimmons, funny christmas cards, etc.

The persimmon is for reference so that viewers will understand just how tiny this pan is!!



I've also been thoroughly enjoying persimmons from the Japanese market



The pan is just adorable and fits perfectly under my broiler. I always have so much trouble fitting a full sized pan under the broiler that I bought these little ones for that purpose, but also to have on hand for baking tiny squashes and other small baking jobs. Maybe I should make some itty bitty cookies on them? that might just be too cute!! =)

Well, whether I'm ready or not, Christmas is on it's merry way and I've finally started to face this fact!!

Here are a few fun cards that I thought match so perfectly my Christmas sentiments

Might be the wrong gender to be me, but the sentiment is the same =)

Hey! that's the way to make punch!! Gin Punch, that is!!

Tis the season for Gin, Gin and more Gin! =)

The Holiday display at Hillcrest Hardware - one of my all time favorite places to do my Christmas shopping!!

a clever little "burrito"

This year, for the first time in many years, Target's Halloween decor was really, really fun and totally up my alley. It was, admittedly, just their usual style of cheap knock-off versions of other brands. I saw similar and much fancier versions of Target's owl line at Pottery Barn, but that still didn't keep me from buying Target's totally affordable and much more usable versions.





So, all of this to say, I was a little bit silly(imagine that) this year and bought a whole set of tiny owl cheese knives. I'd seen them when Target first put their Halloween decor out, but knew I didn't have even one more tiny hidey-hole to store them in once Halloween was over. Lucky for me, a few weeks later I realized that I could just use them for everyday, because that's the kind of girl I am. We do keep bats and a few Halloween decorations up all year round, so the little owl cheese knives would fit in just fine with our usual tiny bat-cave ambiance.

They come extra reflective so as to show off my fabulous forehead.

Once I'd acquired the adorable little critters, I needed to develop a safe(to them and me) way to store them, hence the little burrito style wrap. I sewed this up last night with some old felt squares that I have cluttering up my sewing boxes. It was very easy to sew, since it is all straight lines. I didn't bother to pull out my sewing machine for such a small project and so just hand stitched these simple stitches. I decided to put ribbon ties on both sides of the pouch so that I can tie it up from either side, depending on how the knives roll up together. I also made one extra pouch so that I can fit another knife if need be, or just use the extra space to help cushion the other knives.

A ribbon tie on the right side

A ribbon tie on the left side, too!

The truth is, despite all the totally fun toys I make, I actually love working on useful sewing projects; it makes me happy to know that I'm solving a problem with my abilities, limited abilities though they may be. 

Fancy little cheese knives!

a handful of blueberries makes all the difference

I'm am posting two different jams here today. The little jar in the photo contains my strawberry blueberry jam and the large jar contains my plain strawberry jam.



The two berry jam actually only contains a quarter part blueberry, the other three parts are strawberry, but that handful of blueberries makes the entire jam taste of crunch berries. It is completely delicious!

The plain strawberry is very good as well, but it has a much cleaner, more simple flavor. The color of the strawberry only jam is nicer though, and I love the brighter red color; it really has that classic "jam" look.

I have gone overboard stocking my cupboard with more jam than I need this year. A week ago or so, I made some figgy jam(much like last year's) and though I didn't do a water bath for it, I did turn the jars over for a quick seal to help it stay fresh for a little bit longer in the fridge. And, just a few hours ago I made some grape jelly out of my favorite Kyoho grapes from the Japanese Market. The grapes are a little bit expensive but have such an amazing flavor and sweetness. I added just half a cup of sugar to the entire 4 cup batch. I am worried about it's consistency though and may not post on the jelly if it didn't turn out.

All in all, a very jam filled autumn. I think I may need to start giving some jam away. Hopefully all of my friends don't mind jam made with either less sugar or even just honey. I simply love the extra fruitiness of jam that doesn't contain more sugar than fruit. It really tastes more flavorful.

fall colors, summer flavors

 This September has been abnormally hot for San Diego which isn't really a problem and I certainly won't complain about it here, but I will admit that it has set off the game of tug of war that is happening in my brain. A part of my brain keeps thinking about the start of fall and the beautiful colors that come with the start of that season, while the reality is that the weather is very warm and my taste buds want the fresh, summer flavors that are still perfectly appropriate(according to the temperature gauge).

Grated carrot and couscous salad with fresh radish sprouts from my hanging planter

Cream of tomato soup made with fresh tomatoes and basil

 

So, this month I've been making dishes that have summer flavors but in autumnal colors to remind me that it won't be long until my favorite season arrives....

More Fall Produce

Like last week, I am posting about produce that I've purchased. These have all been seasonal fruits and so are very interesting to me since I tend to get very excited by Autumnal fruits and veggies, but I do think I should try to post something a little less fruit related very soon. I promise!

While doing my weekly shopping today I came across Pink lemons. I just had to buy them! I couldn't resist such a fun find. So, now I'm stuck with two pink lemons that I want to make something delicious with because they are so special but, as usual, I don't know what exactly qualifies as special enough to justify using the lemons.


The little yellow and striped fruit at the foreground of the picture is a Pink Lemon. It looks like a bumpy, funny colored Lime and is about the size of a lime, rather than the size of a lemon.

My first thought is that I should make a fun and pretty cocktail with them. Since they are pink inside they would make an ordinary looking drink much more attractive(pink being the very best color in all the world). I could also use them to make a lemon tart or lemon cookies, but I do wonder if the color would stay if I baked the juice? So, if you have any suggestions for using the pink lemons before they shrivel up, I'd love to hear them!

A Fancy Fall: Fairy Tale Pumpkins and Little Miss Brown Squirrel

On a recent trip to the farmer's market, Matthew and I picked up a giant, gorgeous Fairy Tale Pumpkin. I love the exaggerated ridges and deep grooves that make it just scream "I'm a fancy pumpkin!" This particular variety of pumpkin is an older variety and seems to be well regarded in general for cooking and appearance.


I've read about these pumpkins and I've probably even seen them before, but had never considered buying one all for my very own until we were on our way out of the market and had almost started the long trek to the car without purchasing a single heavy thing. But, when I spotted a table of $5 pumpkins, I quickly remedied the situation by buying the largest of the Fairy Tale Pumpkins that I could find on the table, not because I actually wanted to torture Matthew by making him lug it to the car, but because it truly was a perfect pumpkin.


I'm not sure what I'll turn it into: pie, soup, pudding, bread? it all sounds delicious and because this pumpkin is so large, I'll probably make a little bit of everything out of it. Yum!



I suspect I'll have to share a nibble or two of whatever I end up making with this tiny new friend.


Little Miss Fancy Squirrel was a Birthday gift from Aimee who sells these tiny pins in her new Brownsville shop. The little pin was originally made by our Cousin Rumi; what a talented family I married into!


Until I make some pumpkin treats, Little Miss Fancy can enjoy munching on this tiny felt Mushroom that I picked up at a Farmer's Market in Rhode Island last fall.


I think it's just her size!